Slightly weathered Exxon Valdez oil persists in Gulf of Alaska beach sediments after 16 years
J.W. Short, G.V. Irvine, D.H. Mann, J.M. Maselko, J.J. Pella, M.R. Lindeberg, J. R. Payne, W.B. Driskell, S.D. Rice
2007, Environmental Science & Technology (41) 1245-1250
Oil stranded by the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill has persisted in subsurface sediments of exposed shores for 16 years. With annualized loss rates declining from ∼68% yr-1 prior to 1992 to ∼4% yr-1 after 2001, weathering processes are retarded in both sediments and residual emulsified oil (“oil mousse”), and retention of toxic polycyclic aromatic...
Carbon export and cycling by the Yukon, Tanana, and Porcupine rivers, Alaska, 2001-2005
Robert G. Striegl, Mark M. Dornblaser, George R. Aiken, Kimberly P. Wickland, Peter A. Raymond
2007, Water Resources Research (43)
Loads and yields of dissolved and particulate organic and inorganic carbon (DOC, POC, DIC, PIC) were measured and modeled at three locations on the Yukon River (YR) and on the Tanana and Porcupine rivers (TR, PR) in Alaska during 2001–2005. Total YR carbon export averaged 7.8 Tg C yr−1, 30%...
Soft-sediment deformation produced by tides in a meizoseismic area, Turnagain Arm, Alaska
S.F. Greb, A.W. Archer
2007, Geology (35) 435-438
Turnagain Arm is a semidiurnal hypertidal estuary in southeastern Alaska with a recorded tidal range of 9 m. Contorted bedding and flow rolls preserved in tidal sediments within the estuary have previously been interpreted as resulting from the Mw 9.2 Great Alaskan earthquake of 1964. Horizons of flow rolls between...
Optimizing nest survival and female survival: Consequences of nest site selection for Canada Geese
David A. Miller, J.B. Grand, T.F. Fondell, R. Michael Anthony
2007, Condor (109) 769-780
We examined the relationship between attributes of nest sites used by Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) in the Copper River Delta, Alaska, and patterns in nest and female survival. We aimed to determine whether nest site attributes related to nest and female survival differed and whether nest site attributes related to...
Identification of functional corridors with movement characteristics of brown bears on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
T.A. Graves, S. Farley, M.I. Goldstein, C. Servheen
2007, Landscape Ecology (22) 765-772
We identified primary habitat and functional corridors across a landscape using Global Positioning System (GPS) collar locations of brown bears (Ursus arctos). After deriving density, speed, and angular deviation of movement, we classified landscape function for a group of animals with a cluster analysis. We described areas with high amounts...
Genetic characterization of Common Eiders breeding in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Sandra L. Talbot, Kevin G. McCracken
2007, The Condor (109) 878-893
We assessed population genetic subdivision among four colonies of Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima v-nigrum) breeding in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD), Alaska, using microsatellite genotypes and DNA sequences with differing modes of inheritance. Significant, albeit low, levels of genetic differentiation were observed between mainland populations and Kigigak Island for nuclear intron lamin A...
Coralline alga reveals first marine record of subarctic North Pacific climate change
J. Halfar, R. Steneck, B. Schone, G.W.K. Moore, M. Joachimski, A. Kronz, J. Fietzke, James A. Estes
2007, Geophysical Research Letters (34)
While recent changes in subarctic North Pacific climate had dramatic effects on ecosystems and fishery yields, past climate dynamics and teleconnection patterns are poorly understood due to the absence of century-long high-resolution marine records. We present the first 117-year long annually resolved marine climate history from the western Bering Sea/Aleutian...
Late nineteenth to early twenty-first century behavior of Alaskan glaciers as indicators of changing regional climate
B. F. Molnia
2007, Global and Planetary Change (56) 23-56
Alaska's climate is changing and one of the most significant indications of this change has been the late 19th to early 21st century behavior of Alaskan glaciers. Weather station temperature data document that air temperatures throughout Alaska have been increasing for many decades. Since the mid-20th century, the average change...
Do females trade copulations for food? An experimental study on kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla)
Bart Kempenaers, Richard B. Lanctot, V.A. Gill, Scott A. Hatch, M. Valcu
2007, Behavioral Ecology (18) 345-353
Females of many species copulate more frequently than necessary to fertilize their eggs despite the potential costs. Several studies, particularly on socially monogamous birds, have suggested that females obtain immediate material benefits by trading copulations for nutrients or other resources. We experimentally tested this hypothesis by manipulating the food resources...
Early marine growth in relation to marine-stage survival rates for Alaska sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)
Edward V. Farley Jr., J.M. Murphy, Milo D. Adkison, Lisa B. Eisner, J.H. Helle, J.H. Moss, Jennifer L. Nielsen
2007, Fishery Bulletin (105) 121-130
We tested the hypothesis that larger juvenile sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in Bristol Bay, Alaska, have higher marine-stage survival rates than smaller juvenile salmon. We used scales from returning adults (33 years of data) and trawl samples of juveniles (n= 3572) collected along the eastern Bering Sea shelf during August...
USGS national surveys and analysis projects: Preliminary compilation of integrated geological datasets for the United States: A section in Digital mapping techniques '06 - Workshop proceedings
Suzanne W. Nicholson, Douglas B. Stoeser, Frederic H. Wilson, Connie L. Dicken, Stephen Ludington
2007, Open-File Report 2007-1285
The growth in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has highlighted the need for regional and national digital geologic maps attributed with age and rock type information. Such spatial data can be conveniently used to generate derivative maps for purposes that include mineral-resource assessment, metallogenic studies, tectonic studies, human...
Spawning distribution of sockeye salmon in a glacially influenced watershed: The importance of glacial habitats
Daniel B. Young, C.A. Woody
2007, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (136) 452-459
The spawning distribution of sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka was compared between clear and glacially turbid habitats in Lake Clark, Alaska, with the use of radiotelemetry. Tracking of 241 adult sockeye salmon to 27 spawning locations revealed both essential habitats and the relationship between spawn timing and seasonal turbidity cycles. Sixty-six...
Food availability affects the maternal transfer of androgens and antibodies into eggs of a colonial seabird
J. Gasparini, T. Boulinier, V.A. Gill, D. Gil, Scott A. Hatch, A. Roulin
2007, Journal of Evolutionary Biology (20) 874-880
Mothers can improve the quality of their offspring by increasing the level of certain components in their eggs. To examine whether or not mothers increase deposition of such components in eggs as a function of food availability, we food‐supplemented black‐legged kittiwake females (Rissa tridactyla) before and during egg laying and...
Net emissions of CH4 and CO2 in Alaska: Implications for the region's greenhouse gas budget
Q. Zhuang, J. M. Melillo, A. D. McGuire, D. W. Kicklighter, R.G. Prinn, P.A. Steudler, B.S. Felzer, S. Hu
2007, Ecological Applications (17) 203-212
We used a biogeochemistry model, the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM), to study the net methane (CH4) fluxes between Alaskan ecosystems and the atmosphere. We estimated that the current net emissions of CH4 (emissions minus consumption) from Alaskan soils are ???3 Tg CH 4/yr. Wet tundra ecosystems are responsible for 75%...
Holocene slip rate and revised characteristic earthquake parameters for the western segment of the Castle Mountain fault, Alaska
Julie B. Willis, Peter J. Haeussler, Ronald L. Bruhn, Grant C. Willis
2007, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (97) 1019-1024
The western segment of the Castle Mountain fault poses a significant seismic hazard to the most populated region of south-central Alaska. We identify a previously unrecognized margin of a postglacial outwash channel that is offset right laterally 36 ± 4 m across the western segment of the Castle Mountain fault....
North to Alaska: Evidence for conveyor belt transport of Dungeness crab larvae along the west coast of the United States and Canada
W. Park, David C. Douglas, Thomas C. Shirley
2007, Limnology and Oceanography (52) 248-256
We propose and evaluate the hypothesis that Dungeness crab (Cancer magister) larvae from the northwestern coast of the United States and Canada can be transported northward to southeastern Alaska. Larvae collected in southeastern Alaska during May and June 1997–2004 had abundances and stages that varied seasonally, interannually, and spatially. An...
Nesting ecology of boreal forest birds following a massive outbreak of spruce beetles
Steven M. Matsuoka, Colleen M. Handel
2007, Journal of Wildlife Management (71) 51-63
We studied breeding dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis), yellow-rumped warblers (Dendroica coronata), and spruce-nesting birds from 1997 to 1998 among forests with different levels of spruce (Picea spp.) mortality following an outbreak of spruce beetles (Dendroctonus rufipennis) in Alaska, USA. We identified species using live and beetle-killed spruce for nest sites and...
Shorebird abundance and distribution on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
S. Brown, J. Bart, Richard B. Lanctot, J. A. Johnson, S. Kendall, D. Payer, J. Johnson
2007, Condor (109) 1-14
The coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge hosts seven species of migratory shorebirds listed as highly imperiled or high priority by the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan and five species listed as Birds of Conservation Concern by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. During the first comprehensive shorebird survey...
Ranking Alaska moose nutrition: Signals to begin liberal antlerless harvests
Rodney D. Boertje, Kalin A. Kellie, C. Tom Seaton, Mark A. Keech, Donald D. Young, Bruce W. Dale, Layne G. Adams, Andrew R. Aderman
2007, Journal of Wildlife Management (71) 1494-1506
We focused on describing low nutritional status in an increasing moose (Alces alces gigas) population with reduced predation in Game Management Unit (GMU) 20A near Fairbanks, Alaska, USA. A skeptical public disallowed liberal antlerless harvests of this moose population until we provided convincing data on low nutritional status. We ranked...
Holocene slip rate for the western segment of the Castle Mountain fault, Alaska
J.B. Willis, Peter J. Haeussler, R.L. Bruhn, G.C. Willis
2007, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (97) 1019-1024
The western segment of the Castle Mountain fault poses a significant seismic hazard to the most populated region of south-central Alaska. We identify a previously unrecognized margin of a postglacial outwash channel that is offset right laterally 36 ± 4 m across the western segment of the Castle Mountain fault....
Dynamic in-lake spawning migrations by female sockeye salmon
Daniel B. Young, C.A. Woody
2007, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (16) 155-164
Precise homing by salmon to natal habitats is considered the primary mechanism in the evolution of population-specific traits, yet few studies have focused on this final phase of their spawning migration. We radio tagged 157 female sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) as they entered Lake Clark, Alaska, and tracked them every...
Depredation of common eider, Somateria mollissima, nests on a central Beaufort Sea barrier island: A case where no one wins
John A. Reed, Deborah L. Lacroix, Paul L. Flint
2007, Canadian Field-Naturalist (121) 308-312
Along the central Beaufort Sea, Pacific Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima v-nigra) nest on unvegetated, barrier islands; often near nesting Glaucous Gulls (Larus hyperboreus). Nest-site choice likely reflects a strategy of predator avoidance: nesting on islands to avoid mammalian predators and near territorial gulls to avoid other avian predators. We observed...
Ovarian follicle dynamics of female Greater Scaup during egg production
Kristen B. Gorman, Paul L. Flint, Daniel Esler, T.D. Williams
2007, Journal of Field Ornithology (78) 64-73
Studies of female waterfowl nutrient reserve use during egg production require a precise understanding of ovarian follicle dynamics to correctly interpret breeding status, and, therefore, derive proper inference. Concerns over numerical declines of North American scaup have increased the need to better understand the role of female condition in reproductive...
Possible refugia in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska during the late Wisconsin glaciation
P. E. Carrara, T. A. Ager, J.F. Baichtal
2007, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (44) 229-244
The interpretation of the extent of late Wisconsin glaciation in southeastern Alaska has varied between geologists and biologists. Maps and reports of the region prepared by geologists commonly indicated that late Wisconsin ice extended as a large uniform front west to the edge of the continental shelf. However, the distribution...
Natural versus anthropogenic dispersion of metals to the environment in the Wulik River area, western Brooks Range, northern Alaska
K.D. Kelley, T. Hudson
2007, Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis (7) 87-96
Zinc-lead-silver mineral deposits in the Wulik River region, Alaska, contain an enormous accumulation of Zn. In addition to the giant deposits at Red Dog, at least nine other deposits are known. Natural weathering of these deposits has dispersed metals over a wide region over a long period of time (c....
